The alternate cartographer
by wetro
Summary: When the MC gets a bit tied up, it's now up to a handful of marines. Recently adding a bunch of crazys in a rehab clinic.Chapter 9, up and running. Escape is the business now. R
1. Silence

"Damn it, where could he be?" Private First class Charles Wilson stared out the back of the hovering Pelican. He was starting to get impatient.

"Oh calm down son," Private Charley looked back at the Sergeant "we've only been waiting a few minutes. Keep your pants on marine he'll be back soon."

"Hey Sarge something's still bothering me,"

"What?"

"What's your first name?"

"Now why in the hell would you ask a question like that son?"

"Is it Herbert? I bet it's Herbert." Another marine called from near the front of the Pelican.

"Ah just shut up already! His name isn't _Herbert _it's"

But Charley interrupted "It's Dan isn't it"

"No you idiot that's my name"

"Oh, so you're the sergeant"

"Seriously, I'm goanna kill the guy who assigned you to be my partner."

Sarge broke the tension "if you two are done lollygagging we can get back to our assignment."

"Yeah, what _were_ we doing here?"

The hallway was quiet, too quiet. Master Chief stared at the narrow passage that turned a corner in front of him. He was unsure if anything was around that corner so he decided to play it safe. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, charged around the corner. He heard a loud grunt that he'd come to associate with disturbed elites. Responding with instinct, he armed a plasma grenade and threw. He heard another roar and ran backwards. He opened his eyes and beheld the beast who was wielding a glowing energy sword and the Chief's pulsing plasma grenade stuck to his helmet. If it got any closer the grenade would surely kill the chief as well as the covenant soldier. Thinking quickly, the chief ran back through the door that he had used to get to the hallway. The door opened and the chief slipped through it before it closed on the elite. The creature lat out a long painful cry that bled into a loud BANG!

The Chief approached the door and it opened again. The elite's corps was sprawled on the floor of the hallway. The energy sword had been thrown across the room by the blast. There were still lingering traces of a velvety blue smoke in the air. After collecting the alien's grenades, he headed up the last few ramps to the hall leading to the entrance of the building. At the end of the hall a Pelican was waiting for him. He wasted no time, leaning forward; he made a mad dash for the pelican. Without warning, he hit something hard and crashed to the floor. He looked up and was frightened to see a group of at least six elites. Their armor's camouflage was just wearing off.

_Calm down, _he told himself, _any minute now, the marines in the pelican will know I'm in trouble and come help me. _

"No, no, no I'm telling you its pronounced _ketchup." _Charley and a very irritated Dan were having a little discussion.

"That's what I said, catsup" Replied Charley.

"No you idiot, ketchup" There was suddenly a loud WHACK! "Did you hear something?"

"It wasn't me!" Charley shouted in defense.

"No, not that, it was more like… never mind."

"What was it?"

"I said never"

"What was it?"

"Can you ever shut up?"

"Of course I can."

"THEN SHUT THE FUCK UP! Hey weren't we supposed to be doing something?" Charley and Dan looked out of the back of the Pelican, down the entrance hall where Master Chief's motionless body lay face down.

"Why didn't anyone tell me it was nap time?" Said the ignorant Charley.

"Oh shit, this is not good; hey sarge you better have a look at this."

"This had better be good private." Sarge got up and looked out the back of the Pelican as well. His mouth gaped open and he stepped out. "Well I'll be damned. They got him." Sarge gave a solemn sign of the cross before moving forward to collect his ammunition and grenades. He grabbed the Chief's arm and lifted it up. There was a strange shine around four of his fingers, sarge looked closer. They were grenade pins, but where were the grenades? The sarge began to hear low growls and whispering. "Oh!" The sarge turned around and sprinted for the exit. He made a leap to the back of the Pelican and shouted "GO!"

The pilot turned around and asked why but the sarge's only reply was "I said go god damn it!" Everyone on the ship felt a sudden jerk as the ship fled the building. As it sped away from the structure sarge looked back at the entrance hall, which was lighting up like Los Vegas. Bodies of some less than happy elites were being thrown from the tunnel at incredible speeds.

"Hey Charley this is really cool, you should come see this." Charley walked back and looked out from the Pelican. "I don't think someone like Charley should hear about this." He looked to charley who was mesmerized by the flashing spectacle. "So what do we do now?"

"We need to notify Keys that the chief is dead."

"Yeah" Both of them bowed there heads. "do you think we'll be able to win the war without him?"

"I don't know." And with that they remained silent for the rest of the journey.

TO BE CONTINUED…


	2. Swampy

The island that was littered with rocky structures was speeding into the distance. A small marine was still, staring out the back of a futuristic military issued craft known as a Pelican. This marine's mind was numb with thought. A voice came from behind him.

"Hey Charley! Are you okay?" But Charley just kept staring, and staring at the ever-shrinking island. He tried again, louder this time. "Charley!"

"It's bad, isn't it?" This was the most depressing voice that Dan had ever heard. This wasn't like Charley. He now turned from the island. His eyes were filled with sadness, and a sudden understanding. "The war, the violence, the fighting, it's all very bad. War is bad." Words failed Dan, but he had to say something, so he said what came to mind.

"War is hell." Charley's were now fixed on his. "That's all you need to know about it Charley. Don't forget that." Charley turned back to the island. It was about the size of a quarter now. He leaned forward on a pole and whispered to himself three words.

"He wasn't asleep." Dan looked over to Sarge, who was putting away a bottle of pills. Sarge realized Dan was watching him.

"Pain killers." He explained. He turned and glanced at Charley. "Is he doing' alright?"

"Hard to say." Replied Dan. "I think he's finally starting to realize what he's getting himself into."

"Poor kid." Sarge turned to the pilot. "Where are we headed?"

"I'm picking up another island about four clicks from here."

"Good, we can land there and have time to collect ourselves." Sarge looked to the back. "Charley, do you have a visual?" Charley swung around the back and looked ahead.

"Yes sir!" Charley came back and sat down. He took out a knife and doubled over. The trip lasted only a few minutes more.

They made landfall and emptied the craft. The landscape was swampy and dank. There was a very fowl stench in the air, and the only one who didn't seem to notice was Charley. He seemed so serious now. He put away his knife, jumped up, and drew his side-arm. Sarge and Dan stepped out after him.

Leaving the pilot to guard the Pelican, the three of them walked into the swamp. Charley walked in front, fallowed by Sarge, who was once again putting away the bottle of pain killers, leaving Dan to bring up the rear with a loaded and ready assault rifle. It seemed like they were walking forever. Their feet were getting sore and blistered from walking on the soft, sponge-like soil beneath them.

Occasionally they heard what sounded like a soft grunting and they stopped to listen before they moved on. The third time they stopped the grunting did not cease like the times before. This time the noise seemed to grow and surround them. They were now circling back to back. Dan panicked when he heard Charley fire a round from his pistol. "What did you do that for?"

"I thought I saw something." There was a silence… This was abruptly interrupted by a loud THWACK! Sarge and Charley turned around to see a screaming Dan flying through the air and hitting a tree. Dan opened his eyes to see Sarge and Charley, who were both distorted. Charley raised his pistol and pointed it strait at him, Dan closed his eyes. He heard around go off, Dan flinched. He waited for a moment, and then opened his eyes.

The first thing he said when he opened them was a loud scream "HOLY SHIT!" Now all that was before him was a massive elite covered in dark blue body armor. Dan closed his eyes, again preparing for the worst. WHACK! This time Dan's body went numb, but he could open his eyes. He was still against the tree and the alien was still in front of him. But it was so still.

Without warning, it fell to its knees, then flat on its face. Right behind it stood Charley, looking just as still. His eyes here wide and his breath was heavy. Charley dropped his pistol and held out the wobbling hand he was holding it with.

"Are you okay, sir" Said charley in a quivering voice. Dan looked at Charley's outstretched hand, smiled, and grasped it.

"I'm fine." He said as Charley hoisted him up. His teeth were clenched so hard that they would have shattered a bullet. Dan felt a pain so sharp in his chest that it could be nothing short of a broken rib. But he had enough strength to force a smile and walk back over to Sarge.

Charley stayed by the body of his adversary. He kneeled down and collected its grenades. His hands felt warm and he was disgusted to see that they were covered in a gooey royal blue blood. All of a sudden there was a new sign of danger. There was a loud shriek and Charley looked up. There was an electric green ball about fifteen yards away from him, moving side to side. Then there was something else, another allegedly electric object, this time it was blue and took the shape of a shield. Charley stayed still, crouching over the elite's dead body.

Suddenly the ball broke away from the shield and flew toward him. Charley still didn't move; he was too afraid. The ball seemed to grow larger, and larger as it got closer and closer. It was almost upon him; he turned away and looked at Sarge and Dan. Something was very wrong, Dan was running toward him. The truth dawned on Charley.

"NO! DAN DON'T!" But it was no use; Dan had jumped into the path of the glowing green ball. There was a bright flash, fallowed by a scream of agony as Dan hit the ground with a THUMP! He was panicking.

"MY LEG! Oh god, I can't feel my leg! Charley how's it look!" Charley looked to where Dan's leg used to be. It had been burned off just shy of the hip. Charley didn't know what to say, so all that came out of his mouth was a low.

"Ummmm…" Dan took this as a bad sign.

"What?" Dan pulled himself up and looked at the small stub that remained of his left leg. There was a definite look of sheer terror on his face. He rolled to a face down position and began to sob. They heard another shriek, like the one that had preceded the green blast. This was fallowed by a loud BANG! Dan and Charley looked at the swamp floor. Not twenty feet in front of them was a small, gangly, bird-like alien, now lying dead. They looked the other way to Sarge who was standing loosely, with a smoking pistol in his hand.

"Charley! Gather your partner, we're heading back to the Pelican."

To Be Continued…


	3. Death

Charley stared at a sleeping marine lying on the floor in front of him. They had given Dan a sedative because of the pain. Charley was only just beginning to understand. Understanding the pain, the blood, the war, the sacrifice. He looked at where Dan was missing his left leg. He quickly turned away; it was too gruesome to look at.

Charley looked beyond Dan, where Sarge was sitting. Sarge was popping a couple of pills into his mouth again. He looked back to Dan. His sedative should be wearing off soon. All three had barley spoken since they had left the swamp.

Charley looked at Dan's face just as his eyes were opening. His mouth opened and he spoke in a weak and dry voice "You okay?" Charley nodded.

"And You?"

"I feel like my leg was cut off with a blowtorch." He looked at Charley and smiled. "Other than that I'm just dandy, thanks to you." Charley smiled too, until he saw that Dan had spotted his bleeding arm. He pulled his sleeve over the blood.

"It's nothing." He said hastily. Dan smiled again. Charley was doing just what he was; covering a wound, although his was much easier to hide. The bleeding from Dan's broken rib would soon lead to his own painful death. Dan let out a hoarse breath of air that led him to start coughing and wheezing. Charley hooked him to a portable nebuliser that he kept in the Pelican for his asthma.

Another hour passed. "Hey Sarge." Charley still had some unanswered questions. "What was that thing you killed; the one that shot Dan?"

"Can't be to sure private. I looked it up in our database and it identified them as 'Jackals'. I fought them in a mission a few months back. Nasty little things; took out four of my best men." He looked at Dan. "_He's _one of the lucky ones."

"I don't feel to lucky Sarge." Dan said aloud. Charley chuckled.

"Hey Dan."

"Yeah?"

"I never thanked you." Charley stalled. "For saving my life."

"No need to thank me Charley. Remember, you saved mine. I was just returning the favor."

"If you ask me you over-returned it. So I still owe you."

"Fine. You can by me a drink when we get back to Earth. After that we're square."\

"Done."

"Sarge, what are you doing?" Sarge was **once again **taking his pain medication. "Are you sure you need to take all those pills?" Sarge just stared at him, confused. Then he seemed to be recollecting.

"Well, maybe I mumsfddgs…" His voice trailed off.

"I think your becoming an addict Sarge. One of my friends got addicted to those once."

"It's none of your damn business private!" It was now terribly obvious that their commanding officer had developed an addiction to the pills in his pocket. But he saw that discussing it wouldn't help them right now.

They were now heading for another island; this one would hopefully be safer. This time, when they landed they were on fine sand. Charley and Sarge hopped out. "Charley and I are heading out to see if we can get high enough to contact anyone. You stay here."

"No!" Dan sat up.

"What?"

"I'm coming with you."

"Damn it man, you can't even walk."

"I'm coming with. If you leave me here, I'll come find you. Even if I have to crawl." Sarge saw that there was to be no change in Dan's mind.

"Charley, help your partner up." Charley walked over to Dan, grabbed his arm, and hoisted him up onto his good leg. Dan stood for a moment on his own power before Charley had to support him. So, with one arm draped over Charley's shoulder, Dan hobbled along with them on his one leg.

"So Charley, you gotta girlfriend back home." Dan had never thought to ask before. For all he knew Charley could be gay.

"Actually, I'm married."

"Really?" Dan was surprised at this. "Any kids?"

"Six." It was now definitely clear that Charley wasn't gay. Unless…

"How many are yours?" Charley seemed confused by this question. The look on his face changed as he seemed to understand.

"Four of them at least. I have no idea what she does in her spare time." _Waddaya know, Charley has a sense of humor._ Dan let out a laugh of kudos. He grasped his chest with his free hand. This broken rib was killing him, causing him internal bleeding and pain. Soon the blood would find its way to his lungs and he would die a slow and painful death. His hours were numbered.

After the pain numbed he drew his side-arm, just in case. It was a long, difficult journey up the steep hill of the island they intended to climb. Dan had stumbled and fallen more than once on the way up, one time proved to be fatal.

Dan and Charley were both exhausted and needed to take a brake. On the hop before they were to rest, Charley smashed his foot on a rock. He flung Dan off and held his throbbing foot. Dan fell flat on his back and began to slide down the hill towards a cliff that they avoided climbing. Dan and Charley shouted "CRAP!" in unison.

Charley, in panic, lunged down the hill after him. Sliding at about the same speed as Dan, Charley managed to grab his foot and a tree with the other hand. They both made a sudden stop that caused Charley's grip to slide to the toe of Dan's boot. They had stopped at a place where Dan could feel the edge of the cliff.

"Wow, that was close." Charley said.

"Too close." Dan replied as he found his own tree to clasp on to. He let out a tremendous shout of pain. The fragments of his broken rib had punctured his lungs. His time was now limited to minutes. Dan had also cut his leg on a branch.

Charley dragged Dan up and they caught up to Sarge. As they continued to walk, they started to become anxious; pretty soon Charley caught the unmistaken scent of gunpowder and burnt shrapnel. As they went further on they saw traces of blood, both human and covenant. As they pressed further still, they began to hear the sounds that would also be considered as evidence of battle. The noises grew louder and louder as they drew closer to the summit of the hill.

Finally, the sounds were loud enough to make it seem as tough they were a part of the battle. They batted away a thin layer of brush and the landscape instantly opened up into a massive battle that the sounds were surely protruding from. The ground in front of them was littered with explosions from assorted types of grenades.

Dan spotted the marine side of the battle and they headed for it. The other marines spotted them and provided cover fire. They made it over to the marines, who were using a small hill for cover.

Charley gently set Dan on the ground. Once there, Dan shouted "GET ME A SNIPER RIFLE!" Dan had some sniper training. Charley ran to a marine's body, grabbed the sniper rifle clenched in his cold fingers, ran back, and tossed it to Dan. "Thanks kid." Dan turned over onto his stomach and put his eye to the scope. He caught sight of an elite, and almost instantly shot. The bullet hit the elites left eye and it fell over, dead.

He searched the battlefield for another adversary. He spotted a small grunt and took aim. The grunt surprised him and threw a plasma grenade, blocking the shot. He lowered the rifle and rolled on to his back. As he did this he saw Charley run out into the battle field, right into the path of the grenade.

He held up his hand and caught the errant grenade. He then continued to run and tried to throw the grenade, but it had stuck to his hand. He panicked and ran to the closest elite. The elite grunted as Charley charged him. While the alien's mouth was open, Charley shoved the hand with the grenade down its throat. The alien gagged and bit down on Charley's arm with a CRUNCH! Charley tried a few times to pull himself free. Eventually, he pulled hard enough to pull his body free from his own arm.

With no time to think, Charley sprinted back to the hill. He didn't stop until he reached the other side of it. Not even when the grenade inside of the elite went off. The time when the entire battle field was almost instantly coated with a navy blue blood. Dan called to him. "Good job kid!" Right as Dan finished, an elite came over the hill. Dan didn't notice until his eyes traced the bath of a grenade Sarge had thrown at it. He fell on his back. The grenade bounced off the armor that was protecting the alien's chest. Dan raised the barrel of the sniper rifle to the bottom of the elites head and fired. Then he turned around to see the finishing path of the grenade. It was going to land right in the middle of all the marines.

He looked at Charley, who looked ready to jump. The next few seconds seemed like an eternity. As Charley's feet left the ground, Dan began a cry of protest; but it was too late for both of them.

Charley hit the ground a hundredth of a second before the grenade went off. He flew a fair distance from the blast. When he landed, the marines examined the body. His torso was shredded, his organs, shattered. Dan crawled over to look for himself. Moron or no moron, this was still his partner. The first thing he did after seeing he was dead, Dan looked at Charley's arm.

There, Charley had etched something in his skin, three words WAR IS HELL. Dan smiled, coughed up a liter of blood, and died. He died right there, in battle right next to his partner of combat.


	4. Recovery

**Author's Note: This chapter is much shorter than the first three. If you read this story please review. Enjoy. P.S. NO FLAMERS PLEASE.**

The smoke was just lifting. The battle was won, the casualties were five. Two of them lay side by side. A lone officer was roaming the corpse ridden field, collecting his thoughts. He passed the body of an elite that had been blown apart from the inside. A vision flashed in front of him of a marine down the alien's throat.

He took out a small bottle filled with small, round pills. He looked at the bottle. Another vision; this time it was a soldier lying on the floor of a pelican. "I think you should see help Sarge." He lost his grip on the bottle and it fell to the ground. He fell to his knees. The scenes of their deaths flashed before his eyes. Charley jumping, Dan falling. The officer covered his ears and squeezed his eyes shut.

Everything stopped. He opened his eyes. The field was gone. Everything was gone. There was now a floor and a ceiling. Each was pure white and extended to every horizon.

"Sarge..." An echoing voice came from behind him. There in front of him, was private Dan Flohr, standing tall on both legs intact. "I don't have much time. Charley is here too." A slightly taller man appeared beside Dan.

"Hi, Sarge."

"Sarge, the reason we're here, talking to you now, is that we came back to thank you." There was a silence as Sarge got to his feet. "You were a great leader, and an inspiration to the both of us. You taught us things we'll never forget. For that…" They were standing back on the field. "we salute you." Dan and Charley raised their right hands in a hearty salute. Sarge gave them one back. Then the two soldiers began to fade and disappear. "Good-bye Sarge."

"Sarge!" A faint voice came from behind. He turned around. One of the remaining marines was trying to get his attention. Sarge brushed himself off, and walked back to the hill. "What were you doin' Sarge?" Sarge looked back at the field. Everything seemed normal.

"Just saying 'bye to some friends."

2 years later…

Eleven men sat in a circle. They were all talking. One of the men stood up. "Hello, my name is Travis, and I'm a pyro." Another man, holding a clipboard asked him a question.

"Could you describe this problem in more detail?"

"Well, it started out as just a hobby. I wasn't crazy with it and I knew what I was doing. Then I turned 21 and started drinking. The next thing I know, I was missing all my hair and waking up in an armored van."

"Interesting." The man with the clip board finished his notes and turned to another man. "How about you? Why are you here?"

A small man wearing a torn leather jacket stood up and spoke. "My name is Sergeant Daniel Flohr. I have an addiction to pain medication.

TO BE CONTINUED…


	5. Identity

The hallway was quiet, dark and dank. The several doors that lined the hallway were closed. All but one. A door that was marked "records" stood open.

Inside was a man with slick, oily, black hair. He was sitting hunched over a desk, looking at a profile. Something didn't feel right.

Another man entered the room. "Package, sir."

"Thanks." He had been waiting for this. The delivery man left and he opened the package. It was another file. He set it down next to the other one. The files lay side by side, one from the building he was in, the other, sent to him by request of the military. Each file had one thing in common; the name Daniel Flohr.

The pictures in the files looked nothing alike. All of the personal information was different. The something caught his eye. On the military's file, next to status was three letters. KIA. "Interesting."

The only sound that could be heard was the hum of the engine. The warthog was speeding around the island. Charley sat in the side. Dan was in the back operating the turret. Suddenly, enormous spheres of plasma fell from the sky and sent the warthog flying. There was a familiar, alarm and all blacked out.

Sarge shot up. He was drenched in cold sweat. He looked at the alarm clock, which was still ringing. It read 7:02. He punched the off button on the clock and sat up. He rubbed his eyes, and tried to recollect his dream.

He walked over to the closet and got dressed. After he pulled the shirt over his head, he pushed aside the assorted hangers in his closet. Behind them, in the back of the closet was an old, torn uniform.

The sun was just rising over the mountains that isolated The Templeton Rehabilitation Center. The building was founded by Lt. Mitchell Templeton in 2525. Lt. Templeton enlisted in the army as soon as he turned eighteen. After joining, he was assigned to combat in the "Trade Wars" with China. His last assignment was to capture China's Premier of the time, but he was discovered and taken prisoner. He was held in a POW camp near Beijing for six years. Soon after, the US had captured China and the war was over.

The Lt. retired after returning to the US. He now had no job, so he decided to help out one of his friends build a rehab clinic. (His friend was a humanitarian.) When his friend died Mitch decided to finish and run the clinic.

It was the highest floor of the building, and there were a lot of stairs to get there. When he finally got there, the oily haired man pushed open the big oak doors. It was a very large office with old books and artifacts in display cases against each wall. At the other end of the office was a small desk, in front of a window.

He reached the desk. "Sir." A slender man peered over the top of his computer screen.

"Wadda ya got for me Wipf?" Wipf went around to the other side of the desk. "Hold on one sec." his fingers were madly pressing the w, s, a, and d keys. His other hand was repeatedly clicking the left mouse. Wipf heard a loud bang. "Damn it!"

"What are you doing?"

"Playing Battlefield. Can you believe this is over a thousand years old? It took me forever to find. You got it?" Wipf handed him a pair of files. The man at the desk opened, and examined them. "Hmm." He pressed the button on the intercom. "Jessie, please send patient Daniel Flohr to my office"

"Yes, Mr. Templeton" He turned off the intercom.

"Thanks Wipf, this is just what I needed."


	6. Adam

No one could have predicted it. They had come so fast. Only one patient knew what was coming.

He had never gone down this hallway before. It seemed so long. He was very tired from the so many stairs that he had climbed to get there. One hundred-seventy three steps he had counted each one more difficult than the last.

His mind was numb with racing thoughts. Could it be that he had been found out? Could the whole operation soon become a waste? Questions, questions that he did not really wish to be answered. All of these were screaming in his head.

He was so distracted that he nearly walked right into the large wooden doors that covered most of the end of the hall. He tapped the door on the right and it swung open. The room was empty, at least of people. Dan slowly walked down the rows of display cases. They were full of old, torn books, cloths and weapons.

One particular case caught his eye. In it there was a piece of burnt metal about six inches across.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Said a voice from behind. Dan whipped around. There was now a man, slightly smaller than he was, appeared behind him. He looked skinny and a little gangly.

"What is it?" Dan turned back to the case.

"It's a piece of the atom bomb. It was found right at the spot where the bomb hit in Hiroshima. It took me quite some time to obtain it." He started to walk toward his desk. "War has always been a fascination of mine, particularly WWII."

"What did you want to see me for Mr. Templeton?"

"An explanation." He put plainly.

"What would you like me to explain?" Dan began to sweat. Mitch dropped a file on his desk.

"I'm all ears." Dan's hands were trembling as he opened the file. He looked up at Mitch.

"Where did you find this?"

"The military. Now go ahead with your story Dan, if that is your real name." Dan looked at the floor.

"The file is a fake."

"I beg your pardon."

"The military is covering my tracks; with the blood of another man. This man was a member of my squad. His name wasn't Daniel Flohr. The military erased his identity and gave him mine. His real name…" Dan looked up. "was Alex Rogers."

"Why?"

"They were protecting me. They replaced his name so that no one had to know mine. The Covenant got a hold of a list of commanding officers. This information would have lead them to search me out and kill me. When we learned this Alex temporarily received my identity. Everyone just called me 'Sarge' after that." Mitch took the file and looked at it.

"KIA." Mitch said aloud. "How did he die?" Dan continued his story. How Alex's leg was burned off. Then, how his broken rib caused the internal bleeding that led to his painful death. Mitch was hanging on to every word. War stories fascinated him, which was why he collected old diaries and journals. Dan's story took up a good deal of their time. When he finally did finish, it was nearing noon.

"Hmm." Mitch walked around to the window behind his desk. "Have you told anyone about this?"

"No."

"Good." Said Mitch "This would classify as conspiracy in my book. This is dangerous information."

"Okay, sir."

"You can leave."

"Thanks." Dan got up and made for the doors.

"Wait." Dan turned around.

"Yeah?"

"There's a man in your rehab group. His name is Adam, he suffers from extreme paranoia and anxiety. Be sure not to tell him anything."

"I'll remember."

That afternoon there was a talk session in Dan's group. Dan found his place in the circle of eleven chairs. After a few minutes their councilor, Corey, showed up and took his place in the circle.

"Okay, let's start." Corey looked around the circle. "How about you?" He pointed at a small mousy man who was madly twitching. He got up out of his chair (three to the left of Corey's) and cleared his throat.

"Well…" His voice was as twitchy as he was. "My name is Adam, and according to the **_government _**I have what they call 'paranoia'" His shoulder jerked as he talked. "But what they really meant is that I know too much!" Dan now saw what Mitch was saying about Adam; this guy was nuts! Dan also noticed that he was carrying a fairly large bag that he was clutching very tightly.

"They know that I know, that they know that I know about their conspiracy. They're working for **THEM!**" Adam pointed stiffly out the window at a sparrow. Everyone looked, more than skeptically, at him. "OH, he looks innocent now, but just wait; they'll be the death of us all." Now there were several raised eyebrows. "Oh-ho, you think I'm crazy don't you?" That was the general consensus. "Well I have proof. This morning I was hearing voices telling me to watch the sky. I had a camera, and I took a picture of the only living thing I saw." Adam took out a picture of a sparrow. "See this? That is the same sparrow as the one outside right now. Coincidence? I think **NOT!" **Adam stood rigid for a moment, then jerked and fell to the ground, still rigid.

Everyone looked at Adam, then back at Corey, who was putting away a dart shooter. "Well I think that Mr. Houl has made excellent progress today, but before the tranquilizer wears off I think we should end today's session. Same time tomorrow people."

To Be Continued…


	7. The calm before the storm

A sparrow sits perfectly still on a tree, looking through a window. Inside was a man screaming and making wild motions with his spastic arms. The bird kept starring. Suddenly, the man fell and the bird flew off.

The sparrow made a long journey, climbing higher and higher in the sky. Soon it reached an altitude that no bird on earth would dare climb to. Was this an ordinary bird? Was this even a bird at all? Only one person knew the answer. There was just one problem. No one would ever believe him, but that all was about to change.

As another day began at the clinic everyone began their own morning routine.

Sergeant Flohr oozed out of bed after another restless night, deprived of sleep. He scratched his head and went to his closet. He pushed aside the clothes in front to reveal his old uniform. For no particular reason, he decided to wear it today.

Mr. Templeton got out of bed and went to the window of his office. Something wasn't right. While eating breakfast, he looked over Dan's file again, then Adam's. "I wonder." He said aloud.

Andrew Wipf got out of his small, but comfortable, bed. His room was in the basement of the building. His morning routine was nothing out of the ordinary today for him. He got up, ate, and got his daily upgrades from iBrain (Apple's edition of neural implant).

Adam did not get up because he did not sleep. He just stood there, staring out the window. This morning, there were three sparrows n the tree outside of his window, all were staring at him. "I'm on to you." He said before he walked away, grabbed his sack (which he always had with him),and headed out the door.

The sparrow flew to an alien looking craft. A small door opened and it glided through. It flew through several hallways and tunnels until it reached the control room. An elite grabbed the bird, pulled it down, and plugged o cord into its side. The bird's eyes glowed blue as all of the information it had received was downloaded and observed by the alien crew.

After the download was complete, an elite dressed in gold armor got up. "It is time." He said "The area down there is perfect for an outpost, and a building has already been built there." He turned to an elite in red armor. "Take your troops and clean the building of human life. Leave no man standing."

To be continued…


	8. The Storm

As the sergeant got ready for another day at the clinic, he heard a knock on the door. He walked over to it and swung it open. "Wipf!" an oily haired staggered into the room. "What are you doing here?"

"Mr. Templeton wishes to see you in his office. He says that it's urgent."

"Ok, thanks." Dan let out Wipf and shut the door behind him. "Shit!" he said as he turned around. "This can't be good."

Mitch was pacing rapidly in his office when Dan opened the large doors. He turned at him with rodent like reflexes. "Shut the door." He said chokingly. Dan swiftly closed the doors. "Sit down." Dan walked over to an empty chair and took a seat. Mitch continued to pace.

"Has something happened?"

"Not exactly Flohr, but I think something is about to and I don't like the look of it. Something is headed our way, something sinister." He walked over to the window. "A storm is brewing and I think Adam has something to do with it."

"What do you mean by that? The man is a complete lunatic."

"Maybe." Mitch said before he turned around. "Or maybe he's telling the truth." Dan was less than skeptical.

"You can't be serious! I was in the same room with that guy for ten minutes and I wanted to run by the end of it."

"Still, I can't shake the feeling that he's on to something."

"Weren't **you** the on who told **me** not to listen to him?" Just then, Adam burst through the doors. He was dripping with sweat from head to toe and flailing his arms wildly. Wide eyed and panting, he kept shouting the same thing.

"They're coming! They're coming!" Dan and Mitch both looked at him as he stopped running.

"Who?"

**BOOM!**

"Holy shit!" Dan screamed as his legs collapsed from the shock of the blast.

All three men struggled to get up. When Mitch found his feet, he asked "What the hell was that!" Adam stood, darkly chuckling.

"Well, well, well." He said "It seems that I have been correct all along. All of you; you didn't listen to me. And what of your situation now? You have no choice but to place your fates in the hand of the information I hold that you were so reluctant to listen to before." Dan hesitated, and then let him continue.

"Go ahead, Adam."

Adam smirked. "They're covenant."

"Damn it!" shouted Dan "Are you sure?

"Positive," replied Adam "When I first came to this clinic, I noticed one thing about it." He paused. "This building is in the middle of a bunch of mountains. We're completely isolated from other human life. Recently, the covenant has started to scout out locations for outposts on other planets." They began hearing the sound of plasma rounds firing off. They urged Adam to hurry. "They have now found Earth, and they will capture or kill everyone in this building before an outpost is constructed over it. This morning I was monitoring our communication systems, and" Mitch cut him off.

"Wait, how did you get access to that?"

"I had an inside man."

"God damn it Wipf!"

"By 8:00 hours today, they were completely down."

"8:00 hours, that's just a little before you came bursting in here." Dan observed.

"The communications systems going down told me that they were close." They heard heavy footsteps beneath them.

"Hurry!" Said Mitch as he ran for a closet. When he swung it open, Dan and Adam simultaneously shouted out.

"SON OF A BITCH!" The closet was, basically, a miniature armory. Being full of nearly every weapon he'd ever seen, with seemingly unlimited ammo, Dan started to drool.

"Take your pick." Said Mitch. Adam, being very unusual, grabbed a battle rifle and a pair of pistols. I grabbed the sniper rifle and the shotgun. Mitch, being practical, grabbed the rocket launcher and as many grenades as he could carry.

They heard a loud knock against the large doors. They looked toward it and readied their weapons. Dan leaned over to Mitch. "Is there a vent in here?"

"Yeah, it's over there." He pointed to one of the walls near his desk. "You go ahead, I can hold them off."

"Are you sure?"

"Definitely, I've wanted to do this for a long time."

"See ya." Dan and Adam ran for the vent. They got it open just as the covenant burst through the doors. They turned to see Mitch shoot off his first rocket and shout out "YEAH! TRIPLE KILL!" before they climbed in the vent and started to move.

They crawled faster and faster in the vent as the sounds of Mitch's screaming and precision rocket firing faded into a low, faint roar.

TO BE CONTINUED IN CHAPTER NINE…


	9. Escape

Dan had already forgotten how long he'd been crawling through that vent. Adam was trotting beside him, and the only sound was of their very breath. A thick tension hung in the air like smoke in a diner. The tunnel seemed endless and neither of them could hold out much longer. Trudging through the steamy tunnel was worse than crossing a desert. They were walking toward the nearest grill to survey the damage and look for survivors. Adam practically had the entire building memorized, but it didn't help them get there any faster.

"Almost there," Adam said. "Turn right." After Dan did, he met a cool rush of air. He then saw several lines of light stretched across the side of the vent opposite of the grill. They approached the vent. Dan turned on his side to peer through the openings.

It looked something like the battle field where he had lost two of his men. The only difference was that the human side was represented by a handful of fleeing rehab patients instead of marines.

"Oh god," Dan sighed as he surveyed the scene. He pulled out his sniper rifle and bashed the barrel through the grill. He fired off a couple of well placed shots, but was soon discovered be an elite. It roared angrily as it aimed its plasma rifle at Dan.

"Oh shit!" Dan exclaimed, "Move!" He shouted back to Adam. He pushed himself back and felt a sudden jerk. He looked back at the vent as he heard plasma searing the outside of the vent. The end of the rifle was stuck in the vent. Dan tried to pull it out a few times with no avail. "Why do we always have to cut these things so damn close?" A plasma round hit the vent and the rifle broke free. His heart leapt.

"Come on!" Adam cried. "We have to keep moving!" They dove through the plasma scoured vent. They had to get out. As they took off down the tunnel, a loud metallic screech made them both cringe. Dan turned around and saw how weakened the vent had been made from the constant barrage of white hot plasma. It was breaking in half. If it did snap, it would turn into a suicide slide. There was still a good length of vent before it made a turn and they would be safe. It creaked again.

"Ah, Christ," Dan said, "Run!" Adam and Dan started to race down the tunnel. They had made it half way, when they heard it creak a third time. Ten feet away, another screech. Adam lunged around the corner as the vent gave way. This left Dan to make a desperate grab for the corner's edge.

The end of the tunnel hit the floor with a thud. Adam offered him a hand, but when he grasped it Adam fell forward with the sudden added weight. They both tumbled down the vent, shouting various obscenities. It was a good fifteen seconds before both of them tumbled out the other end of the vent. Dan stumbled out and drew his shotgun before he could even see clearly. When a blue blur approached him, he instinctively fired. His vision cleared and he was relieved to see that he had killed an elite.

"Look out!" Came a voice from behind him. He turned around to see an elite, dressed in gold armor, charging at him with a sword. He raised his shotgun and waited for him to get close enough. Before it got there, Dan saw an arm appear behind it, wielding a knife. The man jumped on the alien and stabbed it in the neck. It fell over, gushing blood out of its sliced open throat. A half blood covered counselor Corey emerged.

"I keep telling you guys, anger is a very powerful emotion." He said. Dan looked around, something was a miss.

"Where's Adam?" he asked

"Ah, the crazy one," Corey turned around and pointed at a mousy man playfully chasing a grunt. After a good hit, it went down, and Adam took its plasma pistol. He then, wondered over to Dan and Corey.

"We should find some of the other patients. They could be really helpful."

"Yeah," said Corey, "especially that Travis guy. He can make a bomb better than MacGyver."

"Well, that's a good place to start."


End file.
